1) Week 15 of the NBA regular season begins tonight, with New Orleans (24-21) hosting Chicago (18-28) at 7 p.m. in the Smoothie King Center. Tickets are available here.
2) This week’s Pelicans schedule includes three games at home out of four contests, with Chicago, Houston and the Clippers coming to town, sandwiched around a Wednesday game at Charlotte. The Bulls and Hornets (18-26) are both below .500 this season, but have been playing significantly better basketball in recent weeks – Chicago started at an awful 3-20 but is 15-8 since, while Charlotte has gone 6-4 in its last 10 games. Meanwhile, the Rockets (32-12) are the Western Conference’s second-best team; the Clippers (23-22) are slightly over .500, but are 12-4 since Dec. 20.
3) Among the two teams closest to New Orleans in the West standings, sixth-place Portland (25-21) plays at Denver and Dallas this week, with a Wednesday home game vs. Minnesota in between. The No. 8 Clippers (23-22) are home against Minnesota and Boston over the next three days, then go on a two-game Friday/Sunday Southwest Division road trip to Memphis and New Orleans. Only 1.5 games separate the Pelicans from both fifth place and ninth place in the West.
4) Watch the team’s All-Star starting duo, Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins, sit down with Jen Hale to discuss their trip next month to Los Angeles.
5) Speaking of two-player interviews, watch Davis and Jrue Holiday exchange commentary after Saturday’s 111-104 win over Memphis.